Local artifact included in statewide historical contest

At first glance, it isn’t a terribly impressive wooden box.

The paint is worn, though its patriotic influence can still be seen in the design mimicking an American flag. The front of this battered and well-used box reads “S.I. Field Express.” While it isn’t associated with Sweetwater County’s well-known historical figures like Butch Cassidy or Major John Wesley Powell, the history it represents is important to both the state and the nation and was submitted for consideration as being one of Wyoming’s top 10 significant historical artifacts for 2016.

The contest is the result of a partnership between the Wyoming State Historical Society and the University of Wyoming. The program started last year with the state’s 125th anniversary.

“It was so popular among everyone, including students, that it was agreed to continue the program,” Tamsen Hert, the society’s president, said in a press release about the contest.

Sam Field, a homesteader who founded Green River, ran a number of businesses in the area. He owned the Union Pacific Railroad Eating House, as well as the Outfitting House, a general store utilized by Powell in supplying both his expeditions down the Green River. He also operated a private mail service, the Jackass Express, which did much more than simply passing the mail along isolated communities.

Brie Blasi, director of the Sweetwater County Museum, said a number of mail services like Field’s operated throughout the American West.

She also said similar services are credited with helping end the Civil War, as these services communicated the moments of Confederate forces seeking to take control of the land and gold fields in the Southwest United States. That information was used to break Confederate supply chains and ultimately drive them into Texas.

Information from the historical museum states Field’s service was part of a larger effort to promote what is known as the Central Route through Wyoming as a viable route for travel and services heading west.

Fields, along with many others, helped establish the routes for the Pony Express Trail, Overland Trail and Union Pacific Railroad.

Those routes ultimately were the basis for the Lincoln Highway and modern interstate highway system.

Blasi said the contest is an opportunity for people not only to learn about some of the lesser-known aspects of important Wyoming history, but Wyoming’s impact on the rest of the United States as well.

The contest’s voting period ends July 15 and votes can be made on the Wyoming State Historical Society’s web site,http://www.wyshs.org and clicking on the “What’s New” tab.